


Seven Seas, A Thousand Autumns

by terryh_nyan



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, Dangan Ronpa 3: The End of 希望ヶ峰学園 | The End of Kibougamine Gakuen | End of Hope's Peak High School, Super Dangan Ronpa 2
Genre: Angst, Characters Playing Pokemon GO, Crossover, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Halloween, Hurt/Comfort, Koalas, Multi, Napping, Nightmares, Party, Pillow & Blanket Forts, Roommates, Sibling Love, What-If, Youtuber AU, Zoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-19
Updated: 2016-10-31
Packaged: 2018-08-16 00:18:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8079472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/terryh_nyan/pseuds/terryh_nyan
Summary: #1: Nanami shows up at class with a pile of blankets in her arms. People have questions. (Gen)#2: In which Nanami has a nightmare. Komaeda's idea of comfort is, apparently, a dozen cans of tea. (KomaNami)#3: Nanami thought she'd meet a lot of interesting animals. An interesting keeper, though, is a surprise. (NamiDam)#4: Does Nanami enjoy back rubs? Yes. Yes she does. (HinaNami)#5: Tech-addicted siblings don't need words. (NamiSaki)#6: “I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I'm awake, you know?” ― Nanami Chiaki, probably. (Multi)#7: Kozume Kenma isn't fond of parties. That makes two of them. (Haikyuu!! Crossover)Written for the Chiaki Nanami Appreciation Week.(Ships will be added along with new chapters. Each fic is a stand-alone, with Nanami as the common denominator.)





	1. Fort Meow II

**Author's Note:**

  * For [idemandahug](https://archiveofourown.org/users/idemandahug/gifts).



> In case you haven't heard *pops confetti cracker* it's Chiaki Nanami Appreciation Week! Starting today all the way to the 25th. Feel free to check it out! http://chiakinanamiappreciationweek2016.tumblr.com/
> 
> Since each chapter is going to have its own 'verse and ships, I'm going write it all down in the notes fic by fic, so that you now what you're walking into. 
> 
> Hope you like it!
> 
> Prompt #1: Blankets.  
> Gen. Dr3!verse, but non-despair (or at least not yet?) Slight Komanami and Hinanami if you squint.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #1: Nanami shows up at class with a pile of blankets in her arms. People have questions. (Gen)

One day, a pile of blankets shows up at class.

Or at least, that's what it looks like, right up until the moment Nanami's head peeks from behind it to greet her classmates with a fairly sleepy, but otherwise neutral, “Good morning.” She gives a light kick to the door with her heel to close it behind her, and calmly wobbles to her desk.

“Nanami–san! A splendid morning to you, too!” Sonia perks up immediately, questioning nothing, but finding it a little more difficult than usual to clasp her hands with passion to make sure all of her sentiment properly translated.

“Good morning, Nanami–san!” Komaeda echoes. He doesn't acknowledge the fluffy elephant in the room at all, aside from an off-hand, light-hearted, “Do you need a hand with those?”

“Nope, got it.” Nanami sets the precarious pile down on her desk, straightening it up around the top. It looks like a very soft, very colourful Leaning Tower of Pisa, and it would no doubt make it impossible for anyone behind her to see if she didn't thankfully occupy a seat at the very back of the classroom.

“Hey, Nanami! Lookin' good.” Owari pats her vigorously on the shoulder, a broad grin on her face. “Nice blankets. So, anyway, back me up on this: old man Nidai says that copying some of the moves from Mortal Kombat is... how did he put it... oh, yeah, _physically impossible_ and something about spinal injuries? Pssh, whatever. I think I can do it. So, watcha say? I really wanna try pulling off a Square Wave Punch–”

“Okay, is _no one_ going to say it?”

Kuzuryuu rises from his chair with his hands in the air, looking as baffled as if everyone had suddenly started speaking Armenian.

Everyone looks back at him quizzically, Nanami included.

“What's up with the blankets?”

“Oh. Right.” Nanami strokes the pile at her side like she's petting a horse. “These are yours. I think.”

“Wait, _mine_?”

“Nope,” Nanami shakes her head slowly, starting to worry about Kuzuryuu's no-nonsense meter, which clearly wasn't expecting that it'd be having such a hard time so early in the morning. “They're everyone's.”

“Ha!” Tanaka whips out a hamster. “A gift from the Underworld? I shall not be frightened off! Come, cursed artifacts! Tanaka the Forbidden embraces you!”

“I think he's asking if they're presents?” Souda sighs, looking defeated. “I don't even know.”

“Well, sort of...” Nanami brings a finger to her cheek, deep in thought. “They were everyone's present to me for the last few months. I end up falling asleep around the school a lot, and sometimes...” She points at the pile with an open, upturned palm. “Sometimes, when I wake up, I'll have a blanket on me that wasn't there before. But I don't think I was ever supposed to keep them? Besides, they just kept piling up, so I thought I'd finally return them.”

A hum of collective understanding echoes throughout the room, as people nod and comment along the lines of “Oh, yeah, that makes sense.” No one, after all, is surprised to hear this.

After a while, everyone starts rummaging through the pile, which ends up looking more like a heap within minutes. Occasionally, someone will shout “Ah! I think this one's mine!” or “This one's pretty! Is anyone claiming this?” or “Look! I'm the Human Burrito!” The last one only happens once, followed by a pained yelp as someone else decides that the Human Burrito sounds like something you're supposed to take a bite of. (Namely, Souda's the burrito and Mioda’s just hungry for mayhem.)

Nanami makes a point of thanking everyone who recognises a blanket as their own, cheeks dusted a bright pink and a sheepish, grateful smile on her face that makes more than one classmate melt on the spot.

“ _Nanami–saaaan_ ,” Hanamura's soft whine makes her head turn, question marks in her eyes. “Are you positive this is all of them? I can't seem to find mine...”

“Ah...” Nanami's face goes blank. “I couldn't bring myself to bring that one. It's too embarassing.”

“I'm flattered!”

“That wasn't really a compliment, though...”

Hanamura winks.

“Well, I'd never do anything to make our Class Rep uneasy! I can come pick it up at your dorm, if you'd like–”

“ _You_ ,” Koizumi snaps, putting Hanamura's head in a headlock, “are coming _nowhere_ near the girls' dorms.”

“That's fine!” Hanamura shouts as he's dragged away. “I'm perfectly comfortable _coming_ in the boys' dor–”

“THAT'S HARASSMEEEENT!”

“ _Everyone_!” Sonia's voice cuts through the chaos. “Please keep it orderly!”

“Wow! This one looks fancy. Can I keep it?” Saionji flashes Nanami her best Cute Smile™, which would've definitely had more power when she was still as tall as an elementary schooler, but still retained most of its charm. She holds up a precious-looking cashmere blanket, embroiedered with flowers on one side, and displaying gruesome battle scenes on the other.

“Oh! I believe that may be mine!” Sonia's eyes sparkle at the sight. Saionji clicks her tongue and looks away in annoyance.

“It is a wonderful piece of Novoselican history,” she elaborates, hands running over the embroidery work on the inner side. “Ah, the Battle of Lehm's Deep... truly one of the most valorous moments in 1976's Medieval Reenactment Festival.”

“It's from a reenactment...?” Pekoyama lifts her right eyebrow, puzzled not for the first time by Sonia's country's priorities.

“Yes indeedy! Ah, but it's also cursed.” Sonia's face goes dark. “Once it has been received as a gift, it cannot be refused. Otherwise, it's terrible luck for the one who has received it.”

“It can't be! Would the artifact dare taint the Chosen One's fate?!”

“Not really, but it would make it so you can never successfully partake in a historical reenactment ever again...” Sonia looks down, a regretful expression in her eyes. “It carries the curse of anachronism. It will make your bra strap show, and your cellphone ring even though you put it on silent...”

She fervently takes Nanami's hands in her own. “That's why I cannot take it back! Please, accept it as a memento of our friendship!”

Nanami's face is completely red. “B-But... such an important item... are you sure you want me to have it?”

A voice speaks from behind her. “If it's terrible luck to refuse it, I wouldn't risk it, Nanami–san.” When Nanami looks up, Komaeda is smiling at her, holding a different blanket in his arms. “Besides, I feel like you'd make a better use of all these blankets than we could. I don't think anyone here appreciates naps as much as you do!”

“But...” Nanami looks around, flustered. “Is it really okay for me to keep them?”

“It's more than okay! Right?”

A murmur of agreement spreads between her classmates, and for the first time ever in response to Komaeda's words.

“See?” He extends his arms forward. “Of course, I wouldn't blame you if you won't accept a ratty blanket from someone like me, but... it's yours if you want it.”

It's not ratty at all, Nanami thinks. It's knit of pastel pink and lilac wool with fringes on its sides, and it's incredibly soft to the touch. A little old, maybe, but that just makes it all the more comfortable to snuggle in.

She remembers waking up at her desk, one late afternoon, after having collapsed over her PSP, and finding soft fabric under her fingers and draped all around her shoulders. The scent, too, was like castile soap. It made her go right back to sleep.

She takes the blanket from his hands and gives him a big, warm smile. “Thank you, Komaeda–kun. Everyone...”

Just a few months ago, she never would've thought things could turn out this way. That she could have so many friends that watched over her, and cared for her, and asked nothing in return.

“Ew, gross! The weirdo's doing something weird again!”

Saionji's voice ends the moment with a disgusted screech.

“I-I-I'm not doing anything! I p-promise I'm not doing anything!”

“Not you, you fucking pighead!” She points decidedly towards a strange structure made of a particularly large blanket draped over two chairs, each on top of a desk.

“Tsk! Your mortal eyes can't possibly pierce the veil that shrouds the castle of my Four Dark Devas!” Tanaka burrows further into his makeshift den, probably one breath away from hissing.

“Eeh? Did you make a blanket fort for your hamsters?” Saionji covers her mouth with one hand and snickers. “That's _sooo_ lame!”

“S-Silence!”

“Huh,” Kuzuryuu hums, stepping inside from the opposite side, startling both the hamsters and their master. “That's actually pretty solid. You know, structurally speaking. I bet we could make it a tunnel if we used the other desks too.”

After a couple more seconds of mental architectural planning, Kuzuryuu looks up to find fourteen pairs of eyes staring at him in varying degrees of disbelief. He quickly lifts his palms up, blushes to death, and stammers, not necessarily in this order: “N-Not that I was _suggesting_ –”

“No, it's a good idea.”

All of the eyes fix on Nanami, and she pauses.

So many possibilities...

“Actually... it's a great idea. Let's all grab a blanket.”

And just like that, everyone starts shouting with excitement.

“Hells yeah! Ibuki can't build at all but she'll happily conform with everyone in the spirit of Communism!”

“That's not a communist flag! That's just a red blanket!”

“Oi, Nidai! First one to knock down the other's fort wins!”

“I d-don't think that's how you're supposed to play, O-Owari–san...”

“BRING IT OOOON!”

“Haha... Nanami–san, your eyes are sparkling! Sparkling with hope! I can't wait to see where this will lead us!”

“Dark tunnels... soft surfaces... _aah_ , it's the perfect scenario for–!”

“I-I think I'd r-rather stay home and make anime...”

This was going to be great.

 

 

“Sorry I'm late, everyone! I was held up at a...”

Yukizome's always prepared for disaster whenever she throws the door open, but she was not expecting what she finds.

“...meeting...”

Her first thought is that looks like an evacuee camp. But colourful. And messy.

And her desks are gone.

Apparently, so are her students.

“Um... guys? Where are you? What... are you doing?”

There's some commotion inside, some rustling, a little yelping as someone's foot is stepped on, but in the end a familiar pink head peeks out from the endless sea of blankets.

“Yukizome–sensei!”

“Nanami–san!” The relief in her voice is palpable. “What's going on here? Is this...”

“It's a blanket fort,” Nanami explains. Then, as an afterthought, she adds, “It was Kuzuryuu–kun's idea.”

“It was _not_!”

“Is everyone in there?” Yukizome asks, peeking inside. She thinks she can see some familiar limbs here and there.

“Yup. Sensei, do you want to join?”

For a moment, she considers just saying that she's a bit grown up for this, and politely declining, maybe insisting that they actually have homeroom for once.

For a moment.

Then she becomes aware of Nanami's big eyes sparkling with excitement and...

Well, what the hell. She's not _that_ old, is she?

Besides, forts are _fun_.

“Sensei, don't! Hanamura's gonna be a creep to you too!”

“I can handle Hanamura–kun, Saionji–san! Don't worry about me!”

With that, she climbs inside, because why not? It's not everyday that your classroom gets turned into a warm, fluffy maze.

She bets she can even send a certain someone a picture...

 

 

When Yukizome–sensei whips out her phone from an apron pocket, going unnoticed by almost everyone in the darkness of the fort, Nanami gets an idea.

 

 

When Hinata checks his phone at lunch, there's a text from Nanami.

It's a picture. Hinata looks at it once, then tries rotating his phone, then looks at it again. It kind of looks like an abstract art painting or the biggest plaid in the world, he can't quite decide. Maybe they're blankets, though? One of them in particular does seem familiar...

On the left side, a corner of Nanami's face peeks at the camera, accompanied by a clumsy peace sign.

He scrolls down.

The caption just reads _Fort Meow II._

Hinata has to stop himself from snickering out loud.


	2. Chasing After Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #2: In which Nanami has a nightmare. Komaeda's idea of comfort is, apparently, a dozen cans of tea. (KomaNami)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Absolutely no angst!" I said. "Only good things," I also said.
> 
> Then I wrote this.
> 
> Not sure whether it qualifies for the Appreciation Week, to be honest. It's a hurt/comfort, with mentions of episode 10 except, in this universe, episode 10 never happened. And it hopefully never will.
> 
> Mainly, though, I wanted Nanami to be comforted in a moment when she's at her most vulnerable ('cause what's faith without doubt, right?). 4 AM seemed like the perfect timeframe to do that. Hot vending machine tea (in case you didn't know, yep, that's a thing in Japan) also seemed like a good idea.
> 
> So! Lots of unpleasant stuff, but also lots of Komaeda actually showing his sweet side. (Not his butt. His emotional sweet side.)
> 
> Enjoy, I hope?
> 
> Oh! Almost forgot. Chapter title's from Marina & The Diamonds' song "Immortal", which I listened to while I was writing. I recommend listening to it while reading.
> 
> Prompt: Hot Drinks.  
> Mentions of nightmares and sleep paralysis. Brief car scare. Dr3!verse, non-despair. Also KomaNami.

When Komaeda offered to go buy them drinks, Nanami forgot to specify that she only wanted one. The thought hadn't really crossed her mind until she saw him come back with at least a dozen cans of green tea balanced precariously in his arms.

“Sorry for the wait! The machine broke and the whole row came down. Isn't it an incredible stroke of luck?”

In any other instance, Nanami would've been surprised. Instead, her mind instantly drifted elsewhere as she hummed a non-committal “Mm...” and hopped down the guard-rail, scarf fluttering behind her. “Thanks. Do you need a hand with... ?”

Komaeda somehow managed to wave a hand dismissively without dropping a single can. “That's very kind of you, Nanami–san, but you shouldn't go through so much trouble for someone like me. I already feel blessed enough that fate has allowed for us to meet tonight. If I push my luck any further, I'm afraid that something terrible might happen!” The lamppost flickered above them, filling the quiet of the night with a low buzzing noise.

“Which reminds me,” Komaeda continued, “Isn't it a little dangerous to stand so close to the road?”

As if closing its eyes in a long yawn, the lamppost went out. The sudden darkness startled Nanami, who couldn't even see as far as where Komaeda was standing, let alone the road. An uncharacteristic sense of dread overcame her as she extended her hand backwards and couldn't feel where the guard-rail was anymore; in a flash, she pictured herself standing in the middle of the dark road, and the lights of a car approaching, closer, closer–

She was yanked back to reality by the sudden sensation of something hot pressed against her cheek, and the lamppost flickered back to life.

“Here you go.” Komaeda smiled serenely at her, and she took the can from his hand with trembling fingers. When she did, a frown appeared over Komaeda's face as he looked her in the eye with a mix of surprise and worry. “Is everything alright? You look very pale.”

Nanami just nodded. “I'm fine.”

“I see.” He offered her another smile as she flicked the can open and took a sip, a smile that didn't reach all the way to his eyes, but he didn't press her. He never did. “Shall we head back, then? We can take the scenic route if you don't feel like going back inside right away.”

“Mm.”

They walked in silence. The way from the vending machine to the dorm building was a relatively short one, but Komaeda veered towards the central fountain.

The trees closed around them like walls. Nanami had never found them oppressive before, but now she felt compelled to keep her eyes decidedly trained towards the night sky above their heads. The moon was high, and the bare branches extended towards it like skinny arms, not quite managing to reach it. That slice of openness kept her at ease, and the warmth from the tea spread slowly all the way to her body despite the unmistakable autumn chill in the air. Pale stars twinkled above, like sprinkled sugar.

“So...” Komaeda started after a while. “May I ask what brought you out here at almost four in the morning?”

Nanami turned to face her friend. It was hard to make out his features in the dark, and she blinked at him uselessly as she tried to put him into better focus.

“Ah, you don't have to tell me if you don't wish to, of course.” The cans clinked against one another as Komaeda readjusted them in his arms. “I wouldn't be so presumptous to think that you'd actually trust someone like me with your troubles, Nanami–san! Besides, I doubt I'd be of any help whatsoev...”

“...It was a nightmare.”

She heard Komaeda's steps come to a brief halt as she gathered the courage to push those words out of her chest. For a moment, it almost felt like he might've tripped, but her classmate quickly fell back into pace.

“I...” Nanami burrowed further into her scarf, so that her words came out muffled. “I had very bad cramps tonight, so I couldn't fall asleep. I was playing a game to pass the time, when... I must've dozed off without noticing.”

She took a deep breath, and gripped the can just a little tighter. “I've had weird dreams before... and a few times, nightmares, too. But never like this. I think it must've been because of the cramps, but...”

Komaeda was silent at her side, but she didn't doubt for one second that he was listening. For some reason, it was a kind of silence that encouraged her to go on with her story.

“I dreamt that I was in a dungeon. It was just like the one in the game that I'd been playing, except... Something felt off. Every step was painful, and I couldn't walk as fast as I would've liked. I kept glancing over my shoulder, like something was...”

“Chasing you?”

Nanami nodded. “Then I stepped into a room at the end of a long hallway. It was supposed to be the final floor of the dungeon, I think. But then, I guess I must've felt a really bad cramp, because I suddenly triggered a trap. A spear came flying...”

A shiver ran down Nanami's spine. She could still feel the sharp pain in her belly that woke her up, like a jolt of lightning piercing her body from side to side.

“That must've been a really unsettling dream,” Komaeda offered, in a quiet voice. “It's no wonder you didn't want to go back to sleep after that.”

Nanami shook her head, even though he probably couldn't see her do it. “That's not why I left. Something else happened, and... I really needed some air.”

Komaeda made a surprised sound. “Is that so?”

Nanami nodded quietly, but didn't say anything else.

They arrived at the fountain. The trees opened around them like a set of wide, welcoming arms, and Nanami heard the rush of water. It glistened in the moonlight, clear as ice.

They sat down. Komaeda started piling the cans on top of one another, to the point that it looked like a small castle coming to life. The sight tugged at the corners of Nanami's lips: did he always do that when he had too many? She remembered the first day she'd met him, with cans of Dr. Hopper stacked so high on his desk she could barely make out his face from behind them.

Komaeda must've noticed her watching him, because he plucked the uppermost can from the tallest tower and offered it to her with a smile. “It's better to drink them while they're still warm, right?”

Nanami accepted her second can of tea with a grateful nod.

“Nanami–san, by any chance...”

Komaeda's voice was almost a whisper. Even in the quiet of the night, Nanami had to lean over in his direction to hear what he was saying.

“That _something else_ you mentioned... Could it be that you tried to wake up, but you couldn't? Or rather, not completely?”

Nanami jumped a little. “That's right... How did you know?”

Komaeda shrugged, his smile back into place. “Lucky guess.” He fondled a can in his hands, rolling it between his palms and his knuckles. He wasn't wearing any gloves, not even fingerless one like Nanami's: his hands must've been freezing.

“I...” Nanami gulped. “After that last part, I woke up right away. At least, my mind did. I tried to sit up, but... my body wouldn't move. No matter how hard I tried. And the more I struggled...”

She could still feel the lead weight on her chest, pinning her down, making her powerless. Taking a shaky breath, she finally said: “It was like being underwater. At some point, I became afraid that I wasn't breathing. Since I couldn't move at all, it would make sense that I wouldn't be breathing either, wouldn't it? That's what I thought. I don't believe it lasted more than a handful of seconds, but when it was over, I was...”

What was she doing?

It wasn't like her to ramble like that, and about things that probably didn't make any sense to the boy next to her. They almost made no sense to _her_ , after all, so why was she letting all those thoughts run free?

When she'd gotten up, that night, all she'd wanted to do had been to get some fresh air and forget about it all. Turning that moment into words, letting it take shape, that would've only made it worse, wouldn't it? It would've been better to just bury it in a corner of her mind and let herself overwrite it with new, more comfortable data.

And yet, there was something about the way Komaeda nudged her on, with subtle nods and hums of encouragement that weren't the least bit invasive. To be honest, she wouldn't have expected Komaeda, out of everyone, to be capable of being so... tactful?

With that, she didn't mean to say that she didn't consider him a friend. She loved all of her classmates dearly. She could share thing with them, things she hadn't ever shared with anyone; but it was always fun things, be it playing games, or outdoor activities, or making memories.

She still had trouble sharing the parts of herself that weren't pretty.

And Komaeda always tended to ramble one minute too long; he didn't seem to be able to read the atmosphere most of the time, and he could go on and on about abstract concepts like they were absolute forces of nature to be cherished or to be dreaded above all else. That that same person could make her feel so at ease, too, was...

Unexpected.

“For a moment... I thought that maybe I really had died. That the last of my consciousness was trying to move my body... to escape... but that I wouldn't be going anywhere. Like I was being held underwater and there was nothing I could do about it. I'm not sure what triggered it, but I became scared that everything would be over. That I wouldn't get to see you guys anymore, and that you'd forget all about me.”

“Nanami–san! That's no way that'd ever happen. Please don't talk like that.” For a moment, it sounded like Komaeda was actually scolding her. There was a deep sadness in his voice, and Nanami was taken aback by the intensity with which his classmate was shaking his head and saying, decidedly: “We'd never let anything that bad happen to you. And we definitely wouldn't forget about you.”

He denied so fervently the mere possibility of Nanami's words coming true that it was almost comical. “I know,” Nanami replied quietly, with a small smile. “Thank you for saying that. Like I said, I don't know why the thought even popped into my head in the first place. Still...” She hugged her can of green tea close to her body, in an inexplicable attempt to stay grounded to the present moment, as if the warmth alone could've done that. “It sucked,” she concluded, plainly, since it was the best sum she could come up with about the events of that night.

“I bet it did,” Komaeda said, sympathetically. He gave a short, nervous huff of laughter, but it soon died down. Silence stretched between them, a pregnant kind of quiet, and Nanami turned her head tentatively, as if she was expecting Komaeda to do something, even though she herself didn't quite know what.

Eventually, Komaeda gathered up all of the cans again, and Nanami took it as her cue to get up.

The walk back to the dorms was slow. Komaeda noticed – he must've – Nanami sluggishly lagging behind a couple of times, but said nothing, slowing down his own pace instead and staring at the starry sky with a focused expression. Nanami had been thinking for a while that it looked like her classmate had something he wanted to say, but it was her turn to be patient.

In the end, he sighed, amusement laced with mild frustration condensing in a white puff of breath in front of his nose. “I'm sorry, Nanami–san. I wish I was a better confidant than this. Try as I might, I can't seem to find words that might make you feel better.” He gave a bitter laugh, and Nanami felt her heart clench a little.

“No, Komaeda–kun,” she said, shaking her head frantically, “I'm the one who should apologise. I said too much...”

In the end, she was still her usual, messed-up self, wasn't she? Komaeda had been so patient with her, and she'd only ended up making him uncomfortable.

“That's not it at all, Nanami–san! I'll be glad if you choose to tell me anything at all.” He sounded so earnest that she didn't know how to reply.

“But... and by all means, correct me if I'm wrong...” he slowed to a halt, and Nanami turned around. There were several lampposts flanking the road, now that they were closer to the main entrance, and she couldn't help but think that Komaeda looked a little bit comical with all those cans balanced precariously in his arms. She almost wanted to ask once more if she shouldn't carry a few after all, but then her eyes met Komaeda's gaze, and she remained silent.

He was smiling, but his eyes were tinged with a melancholy she had never seen on his face before.

“...You don't really feel like going back to sleep, do you?”

Nanami paused for a moment. Then, slowly, she shook her head, burying her face in her scarf as far as it could go. “I'm... really scared, I think. That it'll happen again.”

“Well, I can't guarantee it won't. But...” Komaeda took a step in the direction of the building entrance. “If it does happen again...” He walked forward with a pace that seemed to invite her to follow, rather than intended to leave her behind, but he didn't check whether she was following. “I suggest you just let go.”

Nanami felt her blood run cold. “What do you mean... let go?”

“You said so yourself, didn't you?” He continued, as Nanami caught up with him with tentative steps. “It feels just like being underwater. If you were to find yourself in such a situation, would you struggle? Or would you let the water bring you back up on its own, if the conditions made it possible?”

A gust of wind caught them on the steps to the gate. Nanami just buried her head deeper between her shoulders, her scarf offering protection enough, but Komaeda shivered violently. His jacket was nowhere near appropriate for that kind of weather. It truly was lucky that he was holding all of those warm cans of tea – at least they'd keep him a little warmer.

“I... guess I hadn't thought about it like that.”

Komaeda hummed, deep in thought. “Of course, it's easier said than done.” They twisted and turned into the long corridors of Hope's Peak Academy, careful to keep their voices down. Komaeda's words dropped to a whisper as he said, with an unreadable expression, “But I find that it helps if you act _exactly_ _like_ you're underwater.”

“You mean... don't struggle?”

“Yup. Don't struggle. Don't try to breathe, either.” There was something much like confidence in Komaeda's words, which was a rare thing to find in someone who was always talking himself down, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Nanami couldn't help but wonder if this  was a case of speaking from experience. “And, if you want to get to the surface more quickly, you can always try to kick upwards like you would do in a pool or in the ocean.”

“Kick?” Her eyes widened. “Do you think that would work?”

“Scientifically speaking,” Komaeda said, cans clanking against each other in his arms as he climbed up the stairs to the second floor, “sleep paralysis can be broken by trying to move one's extremities. I guess your fingers would work just as well. But kicking up towards the surface just seems more natural, doesn't it?”

They were almost in front of Nanami's dorm room. Komaeda smiled at her, a kind smile that Nanami found herself feeling extremely grateful for. But on the other hand, she still wasn't anxious to be alone again, so she said to him, in a low tone: “Is there... anything else I should do?”

“Yup. If all else fails, squint.”

Nanami blinked. “Squint?”

Komaeda nodded. “Well, you are underwater, aren't you? Aren't you a little curious whether there's fish down there with you? Ah, sorry, sorry,” he added, placatingly, even though Nanami was looking at him with a dumbstruck expression rather than with any kind of annoyance. “I was trying to keep the theme running. But, yes, squinting like you're getting used to saltwater or flouride helps. And, like this, it's easier to remember.”

“I...” Nanami didn't even notice that Komaeda was handing her the cans of tea until she felt a warm sensation against her hand. “I see. That's really good advice, Komaeda–kun. Have you perhaps–”

“Aaaand that's all of them, I think!” Komaeda said so with a cheerful tone that echoed along the halls. “ _Ah!_ Sorry, was that too loud? Haha, I tend to forget that it's past four in the morning!” He glanced at Nanami, evaluating the position of the cans. In the end, he must've concluded that she could handle it, because he gave a satisfied nod and added, in hushed tones, “I think we should both get some more sleep. Are you going to be alright, Nanami–san?”

“I... I'll try my best. Thank you, Komaeda–kun, for everything.” It was her turn to offer a calm, affectionate smile. “I'm sorry I dragged you outside at such an hour.”

Komaeda waved those words away as if he were sure they must've been meant for someone else entirely. “It was no trouble at all. I'm just glad I was awake and that I heard you walk down the hall.”

Then, as if hanging onto that last bit of uncertainty that he had detected in Nanami's words earlier, he added, with a hand on his hip and the other casually in the air: “But, if you still feel uneasy, you can always come sleep with me. I don't mind.”

In that moment, a loud _thud_ echoed at their left. It sounded like someone had just thrown a shoe at their own door. A suffocated grumbling sound came from the room, but it was spoken too deeply inside a pillow to make out any words other than _fuck_ and _sleep_ , which would've likely been misleading on their own.

Nanami tried hard to stifle a surge of laughter. “I think Komaeda–kun's advice will be more than enough. Goodnight, then.”

“Goodnight, Nanami–san. And...” A strange light shone in Komaeda's eyes. “Please rest assured that, even if you died, I... We would never forget about you. There's no way we could do that.”

Then, without waiting for a reply, he turned around and slowly walked away.

Nanami watched Komaeda's silhouette disappear in the darkness of the boys' dorm's corridor. His words lingered in the air, leaving her uncertain about what to make of them. Then, with some hindrance from the countless tea cans, she turned to open the door to her room, and hurriedly squeezed in.

She still harboured some reservations about falling asleep again. Between her dreams turning to nightmares and the possibility of awakening that way once more, too much could go wrong.

But she found the cans far too warm to separate from: she wrapped them all up in a thin blanket and settled them comfortably against her stomach. Her cramps gradually quieted down, and warmth began to spread all the way to the tips of her toes. Her eyelids started to droop...

 _If it happens again_ , was her last thought before slipping back into unconsciousness, _then I'll swim. I'll swim..._

She didn't dream of anything else that night.

 

 

The next day, she dropped a bag of Dr. Hoppers on Komaeda's desk, shushing each and every single word of protest with a different word of thanks.  

After a while, it worked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rip Saionji's sleep schedule


	3. It's Always Sunny In Adelaide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #3: Nanami thought she'd meet a lot of interesting animals. An interesting keeper, though, is a surprise. (NamiDam)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i need to go the f to sleep but HELL YEAH idk what timezone ao3's on but apparently i made it in time! (not that there's... you know... _any_ deadline,... i just like being cruel to myself sometimes)
> 
> So, this is heavily inspired by Dan&Phil's video about Australia. It's lots of fun, if you want to look it up, but it's not necessary to understand this fic. What is recommended is, instead, extensive knowledge of wombat memes.
> 
> jk
> 
> Prompt: Sunny Day.  
> Youtuber!AU, soft NamiDam, side KomaHina.

 

It's another perfect sunny day in Adelaide, Australia. Which would ordinarily be more than enough to instill terror in the hearts of tourists.

But not these tourists.

“Okay, so, we're back...” Hinata says, holding a portable camera in front of himself. “As you can see, Komaeda's fine. That emu chase lasted about five good minutes, but they both walked away in the end. Mostly unscathed.” He twists the camera towards Komaeda, who waves at it with an unconvincing smile. He still has emu feathers in his hair, but Nanami isn't about to tell him that. “Anyway, we're going to see the enclosures now.”

“Hinata–kun, do you think we'll get to see Harambe?” Nanami rotates on her heels as she walks, taking in the sights in every direction: she's never been to a wildlife park before, let alone a foreign one. There's so many species she's only ever seen in pictures and Internet memes that it hasn't sunk in yet that she's really there, with her two best friends.

“That's, uh... A different zoo.” Hinata scratches his cheek, throwing nervous glances all around. “A-Anyway, we still have a little time to look around before the Koala Experience. Is there anything you want to see?”

“Sloths,” she says, decidedly. “Oh, and wombats would be nice, too. I think.”

“I think I've seen where the wombats are kept when we came this way before,” Komaeda pipes up. There's red peck marks all over his arms, and Nanami wonders whether he's remembered to put on his sunscreen today. His shoulders look like they could catch on fire. “Over there, by the bandicoots.”

“Bandicoots?” Nanami's eyes light up, and she turns to face Hinata with the most intense expression he's seen on her face since the last E3. She wraps her fingers around his hand and tugs gently. “Hinata–kun, let's go.”

The bandicoots turned out to be way less orange than Nanami expected them to be, but still pretty cute. The wombats turned out to be less _pink_ than Komaeda thought, and Hinata isn't completely sure where he could've possibly gotten that impression. As far as he's concerned, he was a little disappointed to discover that they did not have small bat-like wings, but their snouts definitely lived up to standards.

“So, in case you don't know,” Hinata says, speaking in front of the camera, “In this park, there's a thing called Koala Experience that lets you hold an actual koala. We're on our way to meet the koala keeper right now.”

“There's also the Snake Experience,” Komaeda chimes in, with a textbook camerabombing.

“There is also that,” Hinata concedes, shooting Komaeda a mildly frustrated glance when a wild strand of hair ends up poking him in the eye, “but we won't be filming that, because I imagine the chances of you dying increase exponentially around reptiles. And I'm positive almost no one of our subscribers wants to see you die on camera.”

“But Hinata–kun! Snakes are pretty! And you can always edit it out later if I die!”

“You know I can't do that,” Hinata sighs, exasperated, “because you put it in your goddamn will that I can't do that, if I get your death on camera. So I'm not. Getting it. On camera.” He jabs a finger into Komaeda's cheek each time he pauses, and Komaeda replies with a “Haha, you got me!” that's _maybe_ meant to sound guilty but it really doesn't.

Nanami has to admit that those two are as much fun to watch as the animals themselves.

She holds the camera for them as they wait. She'd rather go last: she isn't really a fan of going blind into new things, not if she has a chance to watch from the sidelines first and draft a strategy.

That's when they see the keeper arrive.

At least, Nanami assumes he's the keeper, if only because of the ball of grey fur napping contentedly in his arms. Literally everything else about him would suggest that he got lost on the way back from Comic-Con and casually decided to settle in with the local wildlife.

Nanami decides that she likes him on the spot.

He talks like a cartoon character, which she imagines the kids must love. Hinata, having witnessed his fair share of weirdness, after a brief moment of confusion just goes along with it; Komaeda, _being_ the aforementioned weirdness, just keeps smiling with a carefree attitude and making a poor job of masking the curious glances he's throwing in the direction of the sleepy koala.

“Is it okay if we record this?” Hinata asks politely, pointing with his thumb in her direction.

The keeper – 'Tanaka Gundham' is what his tagline says (just one letter away from a very cool name, in her opinion) and Nanami's inclined to call him that, even though he introduced himself with a far flashier alias – smirks, answering in a deep, smug voice: “I can't blame you for wanting to carve this fateful meeting into the permanent memory of the Ocean of Knowledge.” Then, somewhat more somberly, “But, please, no flash.”

“Got it,” Nanami nods, flashing him a sluggish thumbs-up as he turns to face her briefly, as if he didn't truly notice her before.

Good. That means her technological camouflage is working.

“Then, let's begin.”

First up is Hinata. Tanaka instructs him to relax and to keep his arms along his sides as if he's waiting for roll-call, which don't really seem like two things that would mix. Her friend manages to keep his nervousness at bay nonetheless, and Tanaka places the animal parallel to his chest.

“Wow,” Hinata says, almost breathlessly, as he cradles the koala in his arms. “I-It's really soft.”

Tanaka nods with satisfaction, feeding the creature leaves from a plant he's been carrying around in a long pocket hanging from his waist.

“Which one of you cares to try next?”

Three pairs of eyes simultaneously settle on Komaeda. Well, four.

“Ah, I– I think I'd better pass, you know?” He says with a nervous laughter. “I really don't want to risk dropping it, or worse.”

“Nonsense.” Tanaka's commanding voice beats Hinata to the punch, and he fixes Komaeda with a stare that some would call scary. “Come, Hesitant One. One touch of her enchanted coat, and I swear by the river Styx you won't be able to pry your mortal hands off if you try.” He spares a long glance for the creature in his arms, one that Nanami wouldn't hesitate to call loving, if not absolutely smitten.

Komaeda lets himself be pulled along (physically, by Hinata, and verbally, by Tanaka) and, between one protest and the other, he's already standing with his arms at his sides – “I'm telling you, this isn't a very good idea” – and the koala's small fingers latch securely onto his shoulder – “If my misfortune should strike now...”

The koala looks him straight in the eye, and the words seem to die in his throat.

“She's...” Komaeda's eyes are shining. Nanami thinks this is what love at first sight must feel like. “She smells amazing.”

“That's... an odd thing to say,” Nanami comments, but Hinata shakes his head decidedly. “I concur. It's hard to describe, but it's just like Komaeda says.”

When Tanaka takes the koala back from his arms, Komaeda's a puddle. “I– I don't think I'm going to make it through the day. This is far too good luck for me to survive it. Hinata–kun, I'm sorry about the snakes, you were right, they're going to end my miserable life and you'll be burdened with having to transport my body all the way back to Japan–”

“Okay, okay, you liked it a lot, we get it,” Hinata shushes him, covering his hands with his own, “Now stop talking about death, you're going to scare the koala away. Nanami still has to hold her.”

Komaeda nods wordlessly, but Nanami blinks. “Me?”

“Of course,” Hinata says, and he extends a hand in her direction. “Come on, give me the camera, I'll film you.”

“Ah, but...”

Whatever she's about to say, Tanaka cuts her off with an impatient click of the tongue. “Do you dread the workings of fate as well, Thoughtful One?”

His expression is suddenly very difficult to read.

“Um... No. Not really.”

“Excellent.” Tanaka seems to relax visibly, feeding the koala another leaf. In the meanwhile, Hinata gingerly takes the camera from her hands and points it back at himself briefly, announcing to the would-be viewers: “Okay, Nanami's turn.” Then, back at her: “Ready?”

With some hesitation, Nanami nods.

“Alright. Just like they did. Arms at your sides. Don't be nervous...”

The way Tanaka turns incredibly business-like, but also kind of sweet, as soon as the situation requires it is another odd point of his characterisation, Nanami thinks. It's on that last consideration that she feels the soft tickle of fur against her neck; a grey, chubby arm reaches up towards her shoulder slowly, and small, black fingers press against the fabric of her shirt. It feels like having a toy come to life and crawl onto your breast, but in a much nicer way than it might sound.

“Now, put one arm around her...” Tanaka says, still holding up the koala with one hand but guiding her with the other. His touch is very precise, but gentle, too. “And one arm... here...” He guides Nanami's left arm underneath the koala, so that she's holding her up completely now, just like a human baby.

A big, fluffy, bear-like baby with eyes like marbles and the cutest mouth she's ever seen.

(And she smells incredible.)

“She's...” Nanami strokes her back with a slow, tentative touch at first, but the koala doesn't seem to mind at all. So she starts running all five fingers through her impossibly soft fur. “Unreal.”

“That's...” Tanaka seems to hesitate, a hint of surprise in his voice. “Oddly accurate. I don't think anything suits her best.”

Absent-mindedly, Nanami nods. “It's like touching a cloud.”

“Well, what do you know,” Komaeda lets out a small laugh, “It seems Nanami–san has found love at last. Our viewers will be heartbroken.”

“Says the one who had hearts in his eyes just five minutes ago,” Hinata comments flatly. But he'd be lying if he said the sight wasn't warming his heart, too.

Nanami was never too familiar with animals; she never had the chance to be. That was one of the reasons why he and Komaeda decided to squeeze a visit to the park into their schedule. Australian animals can feel so strange, like they're from another planet. Oddly enough, they thought that would be exactly why Nanami would likely be able to loosen up in their presence.

Tanaka, too, seems strangely moved for someone who's bound to witness varying degrees of emotion during encounters like that on a daily basis.

In a whisper, Nanami asks: “What's her name?”

The keeper puffs out his chest. “Acute question, Thoughtful One. This creature was named by the collective will of the planet. Her very name embodies the hopes and dreams of youth all over the Seven Seas.”

“That sounds interesting,” Komaeda perks up. “Do you mean a naming contest was held?”

“Precisely.” Tanaka smirks, knowingly. “Her name is... Mrs. Harambe.”

Nanami's eyes light up like beacons.

 

 

When it's time to go, Nanami turns to say goodbye. “Bye, Mrs. Harambe,” she says with a big smile on her face, taking the koala's small hand between two fingers in a playful handshake. “Thanks for today,” she says to the keeper then, lifting her eyes to meet his.

“Hmpf. A fair maiden like you shall never thank in her life for the privilege of making a new friend.”

“It was nice knowing you, too.”

She doesn't catch Tanaka blushing before she turns away.

Hinata, however, does. On camera.

 

 

“I just remembered...”

Komaeda stops dead in his tracks. Hinata and Nanami turn with a big question mark on each of their heads.

They become ellipses as Komaeda starts laughing maniacally.

“That's it! That's what's going to happen!”

“Okay, backtrack,” Hinata says, lifting his palms up. “What do you think is going to happen?”

“Koalas, Hinata–kun!” He speaks so emphatically that a skilled politician couldn't do better if he paid someone to. “They can give you chlamydia! I knew it! I'm not going to die a death by snakes, I'm just going to suffer! A lot!”

Then, with the most serious expression on his face, he adds: “Hinata–kun. It's best if we sleep in separate rooms for a whi–”

“ _Aaaand_ that's the end of this video!” Hinata all but shouts at the camera. “We will see you when we get back. Give us a thumbs up if you enjoyed it, and don't forget to subscribe.”

The camera clicks shut and Hinata slips it inside his bag. He sighs. Deeply.

Then he slides something to Nanami. She looks at it for a moment: it's the booklet of the park. “In case he doesn't get over this, we'd better give that keeper a call. Just so he can tell him that his koalas _don't_ give visitors chlamydia. His number's in here somewhere.”

Nanami's about to ask why he would give _her_ this, who'd rather run for office than make one phone call, but Hinata quickly turns on his heels and sprints towards Komaeda, who's by now having a full-fledged mental breakdown by the dingo enclosure. The dingoes seem to be having the time of their lives with it.

She stares down at the booklet.

Maybe _one_ phone call wouldn't hurt.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What is Komaeda going to die of today? Heatstroke? Just stroke? Leave your opinion in the comments! (i am really really sleepy and also very very sorry)
> 
> Ps. No one tell her about the sloths. I'm serious.


	4. Spinning Around In Circles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #4: Does Nanami enjoy back rubs? Yes. Yes she does. (HinaNami)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, some HinaNami comes this way! This chapter's title comes from the song "Circles" by Pierce the Veil. I really, really like them. I also really, really like these dorks.
> 
> Prompt: Cuddles.  
> Roommates-to-Lovers!AU, lots of nerding, Pokémon. HinaNami.

“Ah... !”

A heavy sigh rolls out of Nanami's lips as she falls back on the bed, spent and boneless. Hinata catches her by the shoulder, panting almost as hard.

The 3DS lays across the bundled-up covers, plugged in and one minute away from overheating.

“I can't believe...” Hinata says, glancing at the screen. “You managed to play for six hours straight and win. A one-thousand people tournament, and you...” he squeezes both her shoulders, halfway between an encouragement and a massage.

“Mmh...” Nanami flashes a shaky peace sign. “Free copies... of Sun & Moon...”

Nanami yawns with more exhaustion than if she'd pulled an all-nighter studying. The physical strain on her body is crystal clear, but Hinata imagines the mental pressure from having to keep the strategic part of her mind razor-sharp for so many hours in a row must've been unbearable.

But she won.

“You beat the World Champion,” Hinata murmurs, the realisation just starting to sink in. “The actual _World Champion_ of Pokémon. You beat him!”

“It was fun,” she replies with a serene smile. The aftermath of those intense sessions is always like that: Nanami almost blacks right out, spent and content, and Hinata's left there to freak.

He didn't doubt that she could do it, not for a second. But between _being able to do it_ and actually _doing it_ there's just so many variables one must keep track of. Every single time, he tells himself that.

And, every single time, Nanami Chiaki blows those variables out of the water.

“Do you want anything to drink? You must be a wreck.” He brushes the hair from her forehead, sweat clinging to her bangs and to her skin.

Nanami shakes her head sluggishly, but keeps his hand in place on her forehead when he tries to move it. “It's cold...” Another yawn. “Feels nice.”

“Well, it's more like you're the one burning,” Hinata says with a small laugh, and doesn't take his hand away. “Congratulations, World Champion Chiaki777.”

“It's an unofficial tournament, though...” she mumbles, with no inflection in particular. If one were to try and detect the slightest trace of disappointment in her voice, one wouldn't find it. Nanami doesn't play for the glory; she never has.

Hinata starts running his other hand through Nanami's hair in a slow, soothing motion. She leans into the touch like a contented cat.

“Still,” Hinata replies, in a low voice, “He didn't pull any punches, and neither did you. So you're definitely World Champion to me.”

Nanami makes a non-committal noise, rolling on her side and settling more closely against his chest. Hinata suddenly realises how cheesy that must've sounded, and he clears his throat with absolutely no embarassment whatsoever.

“Are you sure you don't want anything, though?” he asks after a while, eyebrows drawn together with worry. “Your face still feels pretty hot.”

Nanami shakes her head again. Her cheek brushes against one of his shirt buttons, and Hinata suddenly feels his own face go very, very red. It doesn't matter how many times they've ended up snuggling together just like that; it still feels new to him, inexplicably new – something that makes his heart jump at odd moments and his mind go blank in the blink of an eye.

“Just a bit sleepy,” Nanami confesses, biting back yet another yawn and curling up even more.

“I-I see,” Hinata says, idly scratching the back of Nanami's neck. “Then, uh, I guess I'll let you rest. I'll see you in the morn...”

“Mm, no.” Nanami quickly wraps her fingers around his own as he gently extricates himself from her, glancing up almost immediately with big, earnest eyes. He stops. “Stay.”

It doesn't matter how many months have passed. For all the progress that they've made, there are still moments – just like this one – in which Hinata will tentatively take a step back, retreating back into his old shell one inch at a time, and convincing himself all on his own that he's gone too far for her liking. That she'd rather be left alone, unbothered, as if his presence could be as much of a burden for her as it was a comfort, if not more.

Nanami doesn't want that.

“I mean... If you don't mind...”

Hinata's reassurance comes as quick as lightning. “Of course not! I just didn't want to, you know...” He sighs then, as if to scratch that sentence entirely, and slowly slides back at her side. He could be so stupid sometimes, he thinks. “I'd, um... I'd like to stay.”

Nanami smiles at him. “Good.” She burrows against his shoulder once more, breathing in his scent: he smells like herbal soap and too much hair gel, and she finds it an extremely relaxing scent to fall asleep to.

“Say, Hinata–kun...” Nanami's words come out muffled. “Which one do you think you'll get? Sun or Moon?”

“Ah...” Hinata pauses. “To be honest, I always thought I'd go with Moon, but... After seeing the exclusives, I'm starting to like Sun a bit more. Lycanroc's Midday Form looks kind of cool. Why do you ask?”

“Mm... I see,” Nanami yawns. She hopes he can't feel her smile against his neck. That would ruin her plans. “No reason, really.”

Awake by a strand of her consciousness, she feels the warmth of Hinata's hand slide hesitantly up her shirt. Short nails start scratching light lines along her back, in slow, circular motions.

It lulls her right to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *chanting quietly* world champion, world champion, world champion


	5. Night Gaming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #5: Tech-addicted siblings don't need words. (NamiSaki)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won't deny it: I just took this prompt and did whatever the frick-frack snick-snack I pleased with it. I have no shame. Also, my update schedule finally broke, cheers! It was bound to happen, but I'm going to backdate this anyway. You know. To pretend.
> 
> This fic is set pre-Hope's Peak, in a moment in time in which Chihiro still went by male pronouns. I'm guessing around middle school? I needed them to live together, so yay, time travel. Also, What if? in which Nanami is adopted by the best family in the world.
> 
> Prompt: Games.  
> What if?, pre-Hope's Peak. Nanami & Chihiro brotherhood fic. Incredibly short one, too.

Legend tells of a certain skill some siblings have. It is uncertain whether they develop it as year after year in the closest proximity goes by, or whether they're blessed with it from the cradle. Nanami wasn't born a sibling; she became one, through a chain of events that she would've had a hard time pinning down as either fortunate or unfortunate – for one reason or the other, they both felt just as right as they felt wrong. Elder sisters weren't born siblings, after all, but most of them didn't become one by going through two funerals in a row and the threat of ending up in the foster care system.

Which meant that her little brother wasn't born a sibling either.

Nevertheless, they'd grown close. Close enough that a connection sparked, one that bypassed words entirely and allowed them to communicate through the smallest of gestures, the briefest of glances, the obscurest of memes.

That night, at precisely 3:30 in the morning – she knew as much because the clock said so, and she knew what the clock said because, well, what are school nights anyway? – she walked to the fridge to get a glass of cool water and she locked eyes with her brother, for whom it was also a school night, and who was every inch as awake as she was, and as engrossed by a lit screen as she had been only minutes before.

She locked eyes with her brother and neither of them spoke.

The first words to pop into Nanami's mind had been, of course: _Chihiro–chan, you should be in bed_. She quickly realised she had as much authority to say those words as her little brother had to voice the thought that had clearly crossed his wide, caramel-brown eyes: _Sis, should you be up at this hour?_

Alas, they both had no excuses.

The computer screen winked at them, shamelessly, through lines upon lines of code from her little brother's latest gaming programme experiment. The PSP dangling from Nanami's hand, naturally, winked back.

The siblings blinked, instead, one time each, as they experienced that long-needed moment of self-awareness they'd been nervously waiting for throughout the entire night. Then, in perfect sync:

“We should, uh...”

“Yep, we should probably go to bed.”

And go to bed they did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how these two stay awake at school
> 
> On another note: I wanted to thank all of you who bookmarked and left comments and kudos to these little fics. I thought this would get, like, 50 views, maybe? So, much like the wonder siblings here, I have no words. From the bottom of my heart: thank you! You make me want to do my best.


	6. I Close My Eyes And Tell Myself That My Dreams Will Come True

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #6: “I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I'm awake, you know?” ― Nanami Chiaki, probably. (Multi)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a Bachelor's Degree!!
> 
> And I know that's no excuse for taking a month-long break just two fics away from the end. Really, what was I thinking? But alas, my priorities have always been a little tweaked. So here I am now: important things for last.
> 
> I really, really wanted to put in at least one fic taking place in the sdr2!verse. And, again, we're really bordering on the "the theme was happy, HAPPY! That's not happy!" line, but hey, some goofing around is there!
> 
> Also, there was supposed to be a Sonia bit in here, too, but it kind of... went on its own rails. So I think I'm going to make it a stand-alone, or write a few more and make a SoniNami collection. We'll see how that goes (hopefully before 2018).
> 
> Lastly (see? Important things for last!) I want to thank everyone who left kudos and bookmarked this little fic-cluster (I have completely forgotten the proper English word for this). I'm so happy someone out there is taking time out of their day to read it and maybe, just maybe, feels a little better for it. Thank you so much!
> 
> Oh, right: the quote in the summary is actually Ernest Hemingway. But, I mean, it could've been her.  
> Oh, right x2: whoever spots the reference in the title earns a gold star.
> 
> Prompt: Naps.  
> sdr2!verse, gen/multi, mentions of cannibalism (thanks, Komaeda!), spoilers for about everything in sdr2.

Nanami stirred to the feeling of sunlight on her skin and the sound of voices behind her.

“You don't really think there's... a secret passage or anything underneath it, do you?”

Sleep tugged at the corners of her eyes like a magnet, but her ears perked up anyway, out of habit, just in case someone was talking to her.

“Hmm... Let's put it this way. I wouldn't bet that there _isn't_ one!”

A pause. If she'd still been sleeping, the weight of its sheer disbelief alone would've woken her up. “That has to be the shadiest answer I've ever heard.”

“Sorry to disappoint, Hinata–kun. As expected, I'm not much fun to hang out with.” A sigh, so low Nanami almost missed it. _I see_ , she thought to herself as she felt her consciousness being pulled under once more, _they're not talking to me_.

“I didn't say that. Besides, I'm not completely against the idea. Maybe there's a secret switch behind the statue?”

A sound of footsteps coming closer. Nanami could already taste sleep on the back of her tongue; her eyelids started to droop again, a pleasant buzz covered her brain like a warm, fuzzy blanket; and she slipped down against the statue, hands on the wild grass, slowly, slowly...

“Ah!”

...And she was awake.

“What's wrong, Hinata–kun? Did you find a secret pass– Oh. Hi there, Nanami–san.”

Nanami would've blinked at the sunlight, but she found herself immediately shadowed by two tall figures. One smiled down at her as brightly as if the sun had never left, to the point that it honestly hurt to watch; the other had a hand over his heart and looked like he was in the middle of recovering from a minor heart attack.

Both of them looked like they were waiting for her to say something.

“Mm... Hello, Komaeda–kun. Hinata–kun.” She rubbed her eye and gave a long yawn, feeling the circuits of her brain starting to hum back to life.

“Uh, hi.” Hinata scratched the back of his head, pointedly avoiding looking her in the eye. A blush crept across his face, and Nanami tilted her head to the side as she heard him ask, voice uncertain: “What are you doing here?”

“Nappin'.” To be even more eloquent, she yawned again. “What's this about a secret passage?”

“Ah, I see. I apologise, Nanami–san! It seems Hinata–kun woke you up.” Komaeda looked down and to the side, bearing an uncanny resemblance to a kicked puppy. Something told her it might not have been a hundred percent genuine.

“Wait, why are _you_ apologising for me? No, no, more importantly: why are you apologising _only_ for me? You were here, too, you know!”

Komaeda's expression cleared completely, a smile playing on his face and his hand thrown up in a careless pose. “Come on, Hinata–kun, there's no shame in owning up to your deeds! Besides, I'm sure Nanami–san has already forgiven you. Isn't that right?”

“That's not the point! That's leagues away from the point!”

As Hinata poked his finger right into Komaeda's chest, and Komaeda brushed it off with a nervous chuckle, Nanami felt a smile tug at the corner of her lips. Bickering was good. It meant being comfortable in each other's presence; it meant hope shards were being collected. It meant, perhaps, friendship, although she still wasn't sure what that entailed.

But she would've bet it looked a lot like that.

“Haha! Hinata–kun, if you keep going like this, I'm going to have bruises!”

At some point, in some part of her brain, it clicked that neither of them was talking to her. They were certainly entertaining to watch, but it was an interaction that travelled on its own rails, at its own speed. There was no need for her.

So the fog of sleep started to take her over once more, shrouding her thoughts and covering her eyes until Komaeda and Hinata's voices became nothing more than white noise fading in the background.

The sun felt nice against her skin, and the grass was soft under her fingers, and everything was okay.

 

 

“Told ya she's not dead.” When Nanami woke up to agitated voices, Owari greeted her with a big grin.

“Well, how was I supposed to know?!” Souda scratched the back of his head nervously, voice definitely an octave too high. “It's not like people on this island aren't dying like flies, y'know...”

“Of all the ways you could've worded it...” Koizumi huffed with annoyance, brushing a stray hair away from her face. “Very charming, Souda.”

“How is it _my_ fault if it's true?!”

That kind of bustling was nowhere near as light-hearted as it could've been. There was a heavy cloud of worry hanging on the heads of her three classmates, casting a large, dark shadow over their expressions. It dulled the brightness at the bottom of their eyes and made their words uncertain, like steps on a wet surface.

Everyone was afraid they'd slip.

“Dammit. Now I lost my appetite. Thanks a bunch, Souda.”

Nanami blinked up at the tall palm tree behind their heads, figuring she might have an easier time trying to draw its attention than theirs. She wasn't really worried about that, though: she was perfectly content to quietly stand by and watch.

Or, well, lie by.

“You should thank me, y'know. With all that meat you eat, you're gonna get fat in a matter of days. Then some gymnast you'll be.”

Koizumi inhaled with outrage. She pointed an angry finger at him as she said, with one hand on her hip: “Ex _cuse_ me? Who, exactly, gave you permission to pass judgement on a woman's body? How is that any man's business?”

There they were. The occasional joke, the occasional caustic remark, the occasional drama. They were all important ingredients to the kind of recipe she and Monomi had in mind, like milk to a cake; and yet, when they were coloured with undertones so tense and grey you could pass them for lead strings, it didn't seem like such a good idea to make a cake with them anymore. As if the milk had spoiled all of a sudden, or had been spilt.

Those days, it felt like there was spilt milk everywhere.

Owari scratched her head, making an idle comment about how getting fat would only spur her to train more, so that was fine with her; Koizumi reprimanded her, with that particular indulgence she only reserved for the girls, about not getting the point; Souda scoffed and turned away, muttering under his breath about feeling oppressed, which instigated another reprimand, a far less sweet one, from Koizumi, and so on.

But none of them was talking to her, so she figured she might've as well stopped listening. The last sound she was consciously aware of was Owari cracking her knuckles and calling Souda _cheeky_.

She didn't go back to sleep, though. Regretfully, the screams prevented that.

 

 

When Nanami blinked her eyes open in the middle of the ranch, Saionji ordered her to keep still.

“You have antsies on your forehead, Big Sis.” The glee in her voice was like the midday sun directly above their heads: delightful from afar, and bearing the closest resemblance to hell when experienced first-hand. “I'm going to take care of them for you!”

Nanami was tempted to just go back to sleep and let her. In fact, she closed her eyes right after, deciding she might want to be unconscious for that part, but the universe had other plans, plans that came in distressingly quick steps.

“That's just dirt, and you're being a creep.” Too out of breath to fake a careless attitude he did not have, Kuzuryuu came into her field of vision. He scratched his cheek with an uncertain look in his eyes and turned away. As if he'd just been passing by, and had made that comment for no other reason than he'd happened to be there to make it.

Saionji pouted right in her face, making no effort to hide her disappointment. Then, straightening herself up with a move so graceful that Nanami and Kuzuryuu both found it hard to look away, she crossed her arms and somehow managed to stare Kuzuryuu down. “What's that? I thought you posers had a code of silence or whatever?”

“Shut up. Like you know anything about yakuza and its codes.” Then, as if he'd replayed her words in his head, his eyes widened and he sputtered, rage brightening the colour of his cheeks: “And who the fuck do you think you're calling a poser, you retard?!”

Those days, playfulness and tension danced around each other like snowflakes. It was an odd thought to have, especially since she'd never seen it snow through her own two eyes, but she felt that the comparison was pretty accurate. They swirled across the air, stacking up on top of each other until you couldn't tell which was which. They fell and fell until the ground was covered so uniformly you couldn't tell it from a cloudy sky.

“Kyaah, I'm _so scared_. What are you gonna do? Kill me?”

Eventually, they might've stacked too high to walk through, freezing every pathway to the collection of more Hope Shards until they became impossible to melt.

“Feh, don't think I won't.”

“Um...”

Nanami tried to intercept any further remarks before they became any sharper, any more dangerous.

She was about to try again, clearer this time, but her quiet voice was suddenly drowned out by something that sounded very much like thunderclap.

“What _is this_? Fighting...” Nidai's huge figure effortlessly obscured the sun as he took a long, deep breath, one that he released in a booming: “BETWEEN COMRADEEES?!”

Kuzuryuu and Saionji both flinched. Nanami thought she'd felt her bangs being swept back.

“Get lost, it's none of your business.” Kuzuryuu rested a hand on his hip, putting on a mask of toughness that didn't agree with his delicate features. Ironically, it looked like Saionji agreed with him.

“None of MY BUSINESS?” Nidai shouted, completely beyond any concept of indoors or outdoors voice. “You two seem to forget that...” This time, he didn't bother to breathe in conspicuously, so none of them had any way to prepare for what came next. “FIGHTING. IS. MY. BUSINEEEEEEESS!”

“Cut it out, I don't wanna to go deaf!”

“And if you two are serious about what you've been saying...” Something sparkled at the bottom of Nidai's eyes, and both her quarrelling classmates instinctively took a step back. “THEN YOU WON'T MIND IF I TRAIN YOU LONG AND HARD FOR WHAT'S TO COME!”

As Saionji and Kuzuryuu exchanged a meaningful glance, making it non-verbally clear that their battle wasn't over, just postponed, Nanami shot a grateful look in the direction of Nidai's gigantic back.

Perhaps, the snow wouldn't come down as hard as she'd dreaded... Not yet.

Nidai's genuine “Sorry about that!” came from halfway through the way to the supermarket. By the time she had mustered up a reply, he was already long gone.

So she closed her eyes again, and dreamt of melted snow.

 

 

The slide in the Strawberry House was especially comfortable for napping. Nanami found she didn't mind it as much hanging out there, as long as her eyes were closed in the process.

So, when she felt compelled to blink them open by an instinct she couldn't quite place, she was, frankly speaking, annoyed.

A bright splash of red and pink stabbed at her eyes as soon as her lids parted, and Nanami winced. If her attribute had been weak to Light, her HP would've been dropping drastically in that moment – except that, for some reason, there seemed to be a gaping hole in the sparkling wall in front of her, a dark shadow with frayed edges and a familiar-looking shape.

“Ah!” Komaeda made a surprised sound as he took a step back, much to Nanami's dismay. She was immediately flooded with light and apologies. “I'm terribly sorry, Nanami–san. It seems I've woken you up. I really am the worst, aren't I? Even though I should know better than to force my presence upon someone as talented as you...”

Nanami had never been the quickest at processing words. Usually, she could manage well enough, taking her time and still being able to deliver a reply within an acceptable span.

With Komaeda, however, it was instant overload, overkill, and pretty much over-everything. She blinked a few times, bringing a hand to her face to screen herself from the light, and mustered up her sleepy reply based largely on context rather than on the river of self-loathing that her classmate had just cheerfully cried her. After all, she was mostly used to it.

“Hello, Komaeda–kun.” The honorific came out half-slurred with a yawn. Not that Komaeda would mind. “Did you need something?”

When Komaeda opened his mouth to speak, her stomach promptly cut him off. The low, pained growl that drew both their attention reminded her of precisely the one thing she'd come here to forget: it was their second day without food, and she was starting to feel it, just like everybody else.

Komaeda looked almost grateful for that interruption. “What a coincidence. I was going to ask you the same thing.”

Nanami tilted her head, giving him a quizzical glance. She'd known Komaeda for weeks now: for better or for worse, they'd faced three class trials together – if not always on the same side. They'd shared clues, shared thoughts, shared the same old spaces and now this new one, too.

And yet, trying to read him still felt like gazing into muddy waters. You couldn't always trust your eyes when they told you that they'd seen bottom.

Still, she wanted to.

Komaeda smiled. That smile, too, was impossible to read. “You're hungry, aren't you, Nanami–san?”

“We all are.” Nanami paused. The metallic face of Mecha Nidai floated at the forefront of her mind. His battery was getting drained, but she wasn't sure whether that qualified as hunger, strictly speaking. So she added, as an afterthought: “...I think.”

That didn't seem to be the answer Komaeda had been hoping for, but he made it work anyway. He always did. “That's true, isn't it? Even with all your talents, hunger isn't something that can be overcome...” Komaeda looked down and to the side, his cheerful demeanor gradually replaced with the bluest gloom.

Then, suddenly, something in his expression shifted. If asked, Nanami wouldn't be able to tell exactly what it was; only that, in the span of a heartbeat, Komaeda's features had gone uncharacteristically serious around his usual, complacent smile. “...It can only be stalled.”

Nanami was starting to get nervous. “What do you mean?” She asked, straightening herself up almost imperceptibly on the slide.

Finally, Komaeda stopped beating around the bush. “Why, of course, I'm making you an offer, Nanami–san!” With that, he spread his arms wide, as if throwing himself completely at her mercy. Despite having the higher ground; despite being taller, stronger. “I would be honoured if you chose to eat me.”

For one blessed second, Nanami thought she'd misheard. But there was no point analysing his words again; she realised that right away. Still, she scanned his face, looking for any sign at all that he might've been joking.

Hard to tell, really, with how crazed his expression had gone, but Nanami concluded that he was, most likely, being serious.

Nothing new under the strawberry-shaped Sun.

“...No, thanks.” Nanami didn't even blink; she just plopped right back onto the slide, staring at the horrible ceiling since at least it couldn't speak.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Komaeda breaking out a small smile. “Of course, I understand. Someone like me isn't even fit to be a meal, after all. But I figured that, since Hinata–kun turned me down, I could at least be of use to you in these... desperate times.”

Before she could stop herself (as she should've done) she tried to picture that. Komaeda offering himself up as a meal, and Hinata being too tired to yell at him properly. They were nowhere as close as they had been at the beginning, and yet... Even with Komaeda being the way he was, Hinata still tried. Even when he pulled stunts like that, Hinata tried.

She figured she should try, too.

Nanami chewed on her next words. “I...” _Appreciate that?_ “I'm good, thanks. And... We're going to get through this. All of us.” She turned to look at him, just in time to catch a flash of surprise across his face. “At least, that's what I believe.”

For a moment, Komaeda looked uncharacteristically nervous. He shifted from foot to foot and averted his gaze... But it only lasted a fraction of a second. Had she imagined it, after all?

Then, his usual smile shifted back into place. “Being so confident in the face of despair... That's what makes you truly amazing. All of you Ultimates...” He hugged himself tightly, and Nanami took that as her cue to give him some space to... deal.

When she heard nothing but the soft sound of steps walking away, she closed her eyes again. The darkness behind her lids was a balm for her tired eyes.

While she was falling back asleep, she wondered to whom Komaeda would've offered his body next, hoping with all her heart that it wasn't going to be Owari.

 

 

Nanami wakes up on her own, under a cloudy sky, after dreaming of faraway days.

The surface of the Jabberwock Statue is cold against her skin. The wind has started to blow, sweeping through tree crowns with an unusual, ominous chill.

When she blinks her eyes open, she can glimpse a familiar figure – parts of it, at least. A white sleeve giving way to bare skin, a knee poking into her field of vision; a hand, clasped tightly around the crisp, swaying grass, holding it still as desperately as if everything depended on not letting a single blade get away. But only if she looks, really looks out of the corner of her eye.

Hinata lies with his back slumped against the base of the statue, drawing a ninety-degree angle together with Nanami's own. His head is tilted back, and he's facing the sky, except he isn't really looking at anything she can see. Simply staring and nothing more, lips pressed in a tight smile that clashes hard with the broken look in his eyes.

Nanami feels something tug at her artificial chest, something that shouldn't be there, sidestepping code lines and reason and everything she is.

“Hinata–kun?” She calls in a small voice, brows drawn together with worry.

Hinata doesn't turn. Doesn't have the strength to, she thinks. Everything about him makes Nanami think of long, sleepless nights that constantly tug at your consciousness and leave you too exhausted to even fall asleep. She's had a few of those, too, and she still wonders why; wonders whether her sleep mode couldn't activate at the time because it thought she'd been talking to herself.

When Hinata finally answers, his voice sounds raw. “...It's so fucked up,” he says weakly, pressing a hand to his face as if it could've made him forget everything that had happened over the last 24 hours. Two of their friends losing their lives, Hinata himself losing his place in the world; Komaeda losing the last of his sanity. “Everything's so fucked up.”

It doesn't matter how much she wants to say he's wrong, how much she wants to pull a comforting smile and reassure him – reassure everyone – that, in the end, things will work out. The snow's starting to pile up, imaginary flakes swirling wildly and out of her control.

She can't even say the few words that would end this nightmare. _It's me. I'm the traitor._ They get stuck on the tip of her tongue, voicelessly, like an astronaut's cry for help in deep space. That one line of code, she can't sidestep; she can't cheat.

She can only offer a tentative touch she doesn't fully understand, placing her hand on Hinata's fist until she can feel it relax ever so slightly, ever so uncertainly.

Nanami has faith in them, every last one of them. She hopes that, somehow, despite all of her shortcomings (as a monitor and as a friend), she can make Hinata understand why.

He isn't saying anything, but that doesn't mean their conversation is over. So, this time, Nanami doesn't go back to sleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (666 views. I'm so proud of you. I almost wanted to never update this again-)


	7. Hell Broke Out This Friday Night

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> #7: Kozume Kenma isn't fond of parties. That makes two of them. (Haikyuu!! Crossover)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Halloween!
> 
> I confess, I've had this ready for about two weeks, but I just couldn't resist the temptation of posting it today. First time I manage to keep up with a holiday-themed deadline, hooray!
> 
> So, here's to the end of this little Nanami-centered collection. I've had a lot of fun writing it, and I still thank i-demand-a-hug from the bottom of my heart for making the Appreciation Week happen (despite having gone far beyond a week! Argh, as I said, I'm no good with deadlines).
> 
> Thank you for coming along on this little journey, I hope you liked it and that you'll like it until the end!
> 
> Oh, right, almost forgot: this fic was written for a Halloween Writing Challenge "The Big Pumpkin" (La Grande Zucca) by Fanwriter.it! The Italian version of it, at least. So there's an additional prompt for this fic, which is - you guessed it - "Cat Ears". Cool, right? If you're Italian and you'd like to take a look, there's an event on Facebook for it until November 6th. Check it out!
> 
> Prompt 8: Crossover.  
> Regular High School Au, Sdr2 x Haikyuu!! (which I watched/read, like, a long time ago. Hope I didn't mess the characters up too much. Btw don't worry if you're not familiar with it, it's by no means needed to understand this fic!)

When she'd picked her Halloween costume, Nanami hadn't thought it through. She realises it now, as the umpteenth person asks for a blurry picture of the Nyan Cat running towards the heavens, and she takes the opportunity to nyoom out of sight and onto the nearest bench, plopping down on it without bothering to hide her sigh of relief.

Nanami isn't fond of parties. She likes _fun_ well enough; but parties mean people, a lot more people than she feels comfortable handling in the span of a year, let alone a single night.

She brushes her rainbow cape aside, and starts rummaging through her backpack in search of her PSP.

Parties, Nanami thinks as her fingers brush along her 3DS charm – nope, not that one – also mean not being able to understand the person speaking directly to you while picking up, at the same time, on a thousand different conversations at once. That's the reason she's lost her friends in the crowd, not being able to understand where Hinata had said he'd meet back up with her, while hearing perfectly the guy next to her shout abuse at the best cosplayer of the Cheshire Cat she had ever seen (“Speak _simpler_ , dammit!” “So boring...”). But she still nodded, because old habits die hard.

She's confident he'll find her again once he successfully deters Komaeda from drowning himself in the apple bobbing bucket. His luck proves especially useful in times like these.

In the meantime – oh, there it is, finally – she's just going to rest and play a bit.

“Sorry, Kuroo, I'll be right back. There's a Gengar around here somewhere.”

 _That_ strand of conversation, however, makes both her human and cat ears perk up, and her fingers release their hold on her PSP in favour of fumbling for her phone.

A boy who looks about her age stands up from the very same bench she's been sitting on. Nanami hadn't even noticed him. She notices him now: he's wearing regular clothes, except for a pair of cat ears just like her own and a shirt with a play on words on Schroedinger's cat. If there's anyone in that crowd who's even less fond of parties than her, Nanami might just have found him.

“Eh? That's a rare one, isn't it? Go, go, go, I'll wait here.” His friend shooes him away, but the other boy lingers there, angling his phone in different directions in the hope of an easy win.

Nanami stares at the shadow in the Sightings screen. There's no question about it: her eyes sparkle over the frayed edges of the Pokémon that is, most definitely...

“It really is a Gengar.”

The words are out of her mouth before she can stop them. And, in perfect accordance with  Murphy's Law of Party Conversations, both strangers understand her words loud and clear.

Two pairs of eyes are on her now. “Ah...” she mumbles, brain instantly short-circuiting. “I'm sorry, I didn't mean to eavesdrop. It's just...”

“Easy, easy, no harm done.” The tall one with black hair – Kuroo, if she recalls correctly – dismisses her anxiety with a quick move of his hand and a benevolent, if a little mischievous, smile. He doesn't look offended in the slightest, but rather... intrigued?

“Amazing,” he says, leaning in and looking her up and down. With his eyes fixed on her, Nanami should at the very least feel uncomfortable, and she's surprised when she discovers that she doesn't mind _that_ much. Maybe it's because, in a way she can't explain, it doesn't really feel like being stared at by a person: those intent eyes remind her of the big, black felines you see in those documentaries about Africa. “You're like, the girl version of Kenma here.”

“ _Kuroo_ ,” comes an exasperated whine from in front of her. “Don't say weird things to girls you barely know.”

Kuroo grins. “Does that mean I get to say weird things to you, since you're not a girl and I know you?”

“That's awful logic.” While arguing with his friend, he steals glances at her, as if reluctant to make full eye contact. Nanami doesn't mind, since she's doing the exact same thing.

Then her attention goes back to the Sightings screen, and both of them have a minor heart attack. The Gengar shadow disappears briefly, only to come back a split second later, but that's enough to rekindle the urgency of going to find it before it's too late.

Except...

“This place is pretty crowded,” Nanami says, slowly getting up. “And, with the current navigation system, it'll be difficult to find it in time. Do you want to...”

She hesitates. She's not used to this: joining forces with strangers. Talking to strangers. Having anything to do with strangers, really. She's not even sure she remembers how she managed to make friends with her _current_ friends.

“Um, yeah, you're right. Should we split up?”

Kenma's voice – is that his family name or his first name? Nanami isn't sure, but she's also not sure how to ask, so she doesn't – sounds as uncertain as hers, but he's looking at her now. The determination at the bottom of his eyes, at least, is something she knows very well.

“Sure,” she says. “We can exchange numbers. First one to find it texts the other... I think. How about it?”

“Um, alright.”

They exchange numbers as quickly as they can, hesitation forgotten as the game plays them another trick and pretend-despawns their object of desire. Neither of them notices Kuroo smirking as they both run in different directions.

 

 

“Wait, wait,” Nanami says, agitation palpable in her voice. “Don't risk it. Use a Berry.”

Kenma's face is a mask of concentration. “But I only have two left... It's going to be hard to get more.”

The Gengar waves at them with a mischievous expression, its CP towering at a scary 1399. Nanami was the one to find and catch it first: she doesn't know whether it has anything to do with passing by the trash can Komaeda has apparently collapsed on top of – or where Hinata might've thrown him out of sheer desperation. She'll have to go back to collect him, she thinks.

Later, though.

“It's going to be even harder to get another Gengar if this one escapes... I think.”

Kenma's shoulders jump, as if he'd been so engrossed with capturing the wild Pokémon that the thought of it escaping hadn't even crossed his mind. “That's true. Dammit...”

Carefully, he feeds the Pokémon one Berry. Nanami follows each one of his calculated movements, the dangerous spin of the Mega Ball, until...

It hits.

“Come on, come on, come on...” Their voices melt into one hopeful chanting. Kenma's hands are shaking around the phone; Nanami's fists are clenched and raised in a rooting position.

One, two, three...

“Yes!”

Nanami sighs in sheer relief. That was one of the most intense captures she's ever witnessed. “You did it. Congratulations.”

Kenma shakes his head. “It's because you helped. Who knows what might've happened if I hadn't used that Berry...” His face lights up with a warm, barely hinted smile that nevertheless stands out at the corners of his lips. “Thank you.”

“Um... You're welcome.”

It's only when the heat of the moment dissipates that they seem to realise how far away from the crowd they've gotten. Pink creeps up Nanami's cheeks and Kenma quickly looks away, suddenly interested in the details of the fake-cobwebs on the wall.

No. Being so far away from the actual party, those cobwebs were probably real.

“We should...”

“Yeah, um, we should get back to...”

They start to walk back to the party. Now that there's no common cause, they both remember there's a reason they always hang out with the same group of friends – and while they are great friends, the main reason they never make new ones is the fact that neither of them has any idea how to strike up a conversation.

Surprisingly enough, Nanami realises that there's something very obvious they still haven't said to each other, not even while they were exchanging phone numbers.

“Oh, by the way,” she says, and Kenma looks at her with a reasonably sized question mark on his head. “We haven't introduced ourselves. My name's Nanami. Nanami Chiaki.”

She extends a hand in Kenma's direction. “Oh, right,” he mumbles, as if he can't believe neither of them had thought of that until that moment. “I'm Kozume Kenma. Um... Nice to meet you?”

That makes them both laugh. “Nice to meet you, too.”

“...Say, Kozume–kun,” Nanami mentions, after a while. “Do you mind if we stop by the trash can on the way back? I sort of have a friend to collect.”

He looks puzzled at first, but then his face lights up with realisation. “Oh! Sure. I think I might've seen him coming here. Is he okay?”

Nanami pauses. That was a hard question for a friendship that was just staring to bloom. “...Occasionally.”

“...Yeah, I'm afraid I understand what you mean.”

When he doesn't press further, Nanami knows Kozume Kenma is definitely a keeper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love socially awkward Nanami so much.

**Author's Note:**

>  _Fort Meow_ is a computer game that’s pretty much about building forts, but I heard it’s way more hardcore than it sounds. Plus, it has cats. Also, if you’re curious about Teruteru’s blanket... well, just google “karmasheetra.” I assure you it’s worth it.


End file.
